Two years later, another run at World Series

Wednesday

Two years ago, a group of Columbia 11- and 12-year-olds ended its summer riding down Broadway in open convertibles, waving to supporters who gathered for a parade in their honor.

The Daniel Boone National All-Stars reached the 2006 Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa. That team went 1-2 in the most notable Little League tournament in the world. This summer, five of those 11 players are ready to make another deep run.

Yesterday, the Daniel Boone Nationals in the 13-14 age group beat the Northwest Missouri All-Stars, a team from Albany, 20-2 in five innings in the state championship game at the Daniel Boone Little League Complex. The win advanced Columbia to this weekend's Junior League Central Region Tournament in Fort Wayne, Ind.

"They always say that games are won on the practice field," Manager Jim de Jong said. "These boys devoted a lot of hours to working their butts off in some very hot weather."

If all of the Nationals' success in the state tournament came from hours on the practice field, they probably haven't had time for much else this summer. They won all five of their games in the state tournament, beating their opposition by a combined score of 85-7.

That is with, as de Jong notes, all 12 players receiving relatively equal playing time and using seven different pitchers. Yesterday, John Osborne pitched three innings, allowing only two runs in the third before exiting with a 13-2 lead. Jeffrey Ausmus pitched two scoreless innings to help clinch the state championship.

Osborne and Ausmus were two of Columbia's many hitting stars. Osborne hit a pair of singles, scored and drove in a run, while Ausmus hit an RBI double in the second inning. Andrew Kruger - who hits eighth but tells his coach he is "the second clean-up hitter" - contributed four singles, scored two runs and had four RBI. Jansen Smith, Beau Burkett and Blake Darkow also had two hits apiece.

Osborne, Burkett, Ausmus, Nick de Jong and Ryan Schmidt were part of the team that reached Williamsport two years ago. When asked what he still remembers about the historic event - they were the first team from Columbia and just the second team from Missouri to make it that far - Nick de Jong quickly responded, "Everything."

He remembers the first game they played, a 1-0 loss in nine innings to Lake Charles, La., which, at that point, was the longest Little League World Series game in history. He remembers their second game, a 14-5 win over Portsmouth, N.H., which accounted for the highest run total of any team at the tournament.

"We talk about it," Osborne said. "We want to go to the Junior League World Series. That's our goal. We want to win it all."

Making the Junior League World Series, which would require winning the 11-team Central Regional, probably wouldn't make them local celebrities like two years ago. This tournament won't be played at the famous Howard J. Lamade Stadium, and only the final will be televised. But they're just fine with that. They just want to advance further than they did two years ago.

"They want it as much as they did two years ago," Jim de Jong said. "They realize it's different now. That's a unique setting. This is more like going to a regular tournament. They're getting older. That's how it should be."

De Jong is most proud of how well his team has played together, and he's grateful for the free help he's received from Daniel Boone Little League alums who have devoted time to giving the kids pointers. Blake Tekotte showed up to give the players base-running tips and hit a few balls over the fence a few days before signing with the San Diego Padres. Kyle Lasley has committed his last three weeks to helping the team. Lasley, a 2006 Rock Bridge graduate, was planning on playing with a traveling team around Missouri this summer after finishing up his season with Lincoln University. But the team folded because it couldn't find enough players, and Lasley was asked if he wanted to help out. He's been at every practice the last three weeks and plans to travel with the team to the regional tournament.

"It's really fun when you beat teams 20-2 and 24-1," as Daniel Boone did over De Soto on Friday, Lasley said. "It's amazing how much they have progressed in the last three weeks."

The Junior League World Series starts Aug. 10 in Taylor, Mich. The players - the roster includes Skylar Bussell, Colton Gerling, Mike Nemec and Eric Wetz in addition to the aforementioned players - have said that if they don't qualify, they want to take a detour through Williamsport before heading back to Columbia.

"I'd love to do that," Jim de Jong said. "If we can, we're going to sneak a game in there because they deserve to go to a game and see the pure sport that is present there in Williamsport. ? It was a whirlwind for them. They'd like to just go back and soak it in."

Reach Troy Schulte at sports@tribmail.com.

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